A Christmas Romance
by Celtic Harmony
Summary: Its Ryoma's birthday and Christmas and Ryoma is all alone. Atobe interferes. Request from AnimePhantom088


A Christmas Romance

**Category**: Romance/Future-Fantasy

**Couple**: Royal, AtoRyo

**Warnings**: BL, Yaoi, Shonen Ai, OOC, AUish, language, blah, blah, blah.

**Rating**: T for teen

**Summary**: Its Ryoma's birthday and Christmas and Ryoma is all alone. Atobe interferes.

**Disclaimer**: If I own it, there would be yaoi and lots of it. There would also be vampires and magic. Ryoma would also be more moe. So do I own it?…I think not.

_Thoughts_

"Speech"

* * *

December 24.…

That was the date today. The date he dreaded oh so much. Ryoma sighed as he looked at the calendar. It was Christmas Eve and it was also his birthday; the very day he had been born. It wasn't like he hated his birthday but he didn't love it either. It was just that for the past few years he always ended up alone on this day. This year was no different.

His parents had left to spend the holidays with his okaa-san's parents and grandparents (Baka oyaji's were dead) and left him behind to watch the house. Now don't get him wrong, he didn't want to go to his grandparents house. His grandparents practically stood for everything he rebelled against. He shuddered at the thought of them finding out he was gay. His parents were enough for one lifetime. His great grandparents had been born in the late Meiji era, meaning they were very westernized. So the whole ancient concept of pure love was lost to them and his grandparents.

Ryoma still could remember his parents' reactions. Nanjiroh had bawled and bawled and bawled his eyes out until Rinko had threatened to rip his treasures up. He had promptly stopped…until Karupin had found them. Nanjiroh had locked himself up after that. Rinko; on the other hand, had been fine with it. She was only disappointed that she won't get any grandkids.

Baka oyaji still hasn't gotten over it. Ryoma mused smirking. Could one really blame him for being gay? He had been stalked on a regular basis by crazy fan girls who wanted to either rape him, get him to be her boyfriend/husband, or both. Neither prospect appealed to him.

Ryoma did get his share of male admirers though they were not as bad as his female ones. For one thing, there were more fan girls then fan boys. The fan boys were also often trampled by his fan girls, gotten several tennis balls and/or claws to the face, and had to deal with his sempai-taichi. He couldn't believe how many guys had run because of his sempai-taichi (namely Fuji and Tezuka). Actually he could. Lately his friends had all become extremely protective (read: possessive) of him and he had no idea as to why.

Ryoma shook hid head ridding himself of his thoughts. Right now all he wanted was to go back to sleep. His plan for his birthday was to sleep, avoid his teammates and any other lovey-dovey couples, and pretty much do whatever he wanted.

He was also going to try to avoid going out late so that he didn't have to be surrounded by corny romance and dopey couples. He never understood why Christmas was a romantic holiday in Japan but whatever. He just didn't want to think about how sad his own love life (or lack thereof) was. The teen once again attempted to clear his head. All he had to do now was sleep.

Dream

A male, no older than eighteen, sat upon a cliff ledge facing the ocean. The sight was beautiful and almost surreal. The teen's feet dangled off the edge and his long emerald locks swayed in the summer breeze. His molten eyes were looking out, sorrowfully, towards the full moon.

Another male, only slightly older than the first, wrapped his arms around the fragile-looking teen and tucked the teen's head under his chin. The male was speaking softly into the teen's ears and caressing him in what appeared to be in an attempt to soothe the teen. This male had beautiful indigo-violet hair and dark eyes.

Ryoma couldn't hear what was being said, but he didn't need to. Something really deep down, really really deep down told him that the words being said were words of comfort and of love. …..

Dream end

Ryoma woke up with a start. He didn't, couldn't do anything other than just lay there and try to process the dream. _Did I just dream about me and Monkey King? _TOGETHER_? _His face has long since passed the 'red as tomato' stage. No it was beyond that of what a tomato could possibly ever be. When it came to romance and/or anything to do with it, Ryoma's brain was like that of a really old and really crappy computer. Observe….

Processing. Processing. Processing. Processing. Processing. Processing. Processing. Proc-

Excuse us but we are experiencing technical difficulties processing the data…

Sorry for any inconvenience we may have given you.

Ryoma continued staring at the ceiling until Karupin demanded him to get up and feed her. Violently shaking his head, the teen got up and went to feed his beloved cat. During all of this and for a good part of the day, Ryoma was in a daze. A daze that stayed as his brain continue to process the dream.

Processing. Processing. Processing. Processing. Processing. Processing. Processing Complete.

_Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…No no no no no no no no no… _Ryoma has entered the stage of panic.

We are once again experiencing technical difficulties…

Ryoma knew that he had a slight *cough**cough* crush on the Monkey King but he has never actually imagined them together before. Taking a deep breath, Ryoma attempted to calm himself. He was just overreacting. He was just tired of being the only one of his friends not in a relationship. That was all.

All he needed was some fresh air and clear his head. Normally he would go out and hit some balls but with it being below freezing and his baka oyaji being away, there was no way he could. Not even he was reckless enough to try and play tennis in this kind of weather. The only options left were either for him to stay at home and watch movies and be lazy or for him to go shopping with the money his mother left him. The choice was clear. So taking a bath, getting dressed, and grabbing his stuff, Ryoma made his way out.

He didn't know were to start. He could go and blow all his money on tennis equipment but since he wasn't going to be playing tennis for at least a couple of more months. So with that being said, Ryoma went to the nearest art store.

It was somewhat of a secret pleasure of his. He loved art and he was a fairly good artist if he said so himself. He actually had several paintings and several sketchbooks filled with actual full-length manga he drew himself hidden away in his closet. The most current being his favorite. It was a fantasy about a boy name Anya whose soul was split. Anya was an incarnation of a demon prince who has been trapped in eternal sleep, waiting for his incarnation to finally awaken. He didn't know the ending yet but he knows it would come to him.

That's what he should do. He should go and buy all sorts of different brushes and pens to ink out his manga. Of course he'll need ink, oh and some corrector fluid. Ryoma smiled softly to himself. He truly enjoyed drawing and painting. It was different. Sure, he loved tennis but it was getting old. His interest was getting harder by the day to keep a hold on. Not even Buchou and Fuji-sempai were able to hold his interest. He didn't know what was going on, but he certainly wasn't showing it. He had no desire for his sempai-taichi or his dad to find out that he no longer was interested in tennis.

He needed something other than tennis to do and art and music had been it. Ryoma had proved to be a natural on a guitar and proved to have a fairly decent voice (He was a fantastic singer; but unlike tennis he wasn't confident in his skills as an artist and musician). His mother had whole heartedly accepted the change but they both decided to keep it a secret. He still was a tennis pro after all. That was what he was known for. But soon, he would completely retire from the circuit and retreat to his art and music. He'll get Seigaku to the nationals and then he'll graduate. After that Ryoma planned on going to college and majoring in art and music.

He didn't know what he was going to do afterwards but living a peaceful life drawing manga and selling his paintings to galleries sounded good. No fan girls to bother him, no annoying paparazzi, nothing but absolute peace. Of course he would still play tennis but not professional. It would just be a friendly game between friends and/or rivals.

Ryoma made his way into the art store. He listed all the things that he needed or wanted in his head: paper, canvases, sumi ink, calligraphy pens, brushes, corrector fluid, etc. An hour later, Ryoma walked out of the store with several bags filled with art supplies. He had probably spent at least ten thousand yen (Approx. $119). Making his way to the train, Ryoma decided to go to Harajuku. There was a new book store he wanted to check out. Why a bookstore was doing in a place that was known for fashion he had no idea but he didn't care either.

Taking out a sketchbook and a 4H pencil, Ryoma began drawing. He became too absorb in his drawing to notice the person that had decided to sit beside him. This person was perplexed at seeing the teen he knew to be a first class brat to be so silent and drawing. He always thought the brat to a tennis player and not an artist but it appeared that he was both.

The drawing appeared to be that of a young teenage male sitting upon some sort of throne. Eventually the drawing became more elaborate and more detailed. Ryoma often switched between pencils, sometimes using a 6H and sometimes using a 4B. To the observer, Ryoma was a master of this craft. Shadowing and highlighting, cleaning and darkening lines, Ryoma had hardly even used the brand new eraser sitting right beside him.

Not liking to be ignored, not even for a beautiful piece of art, the stranger coughed slightly to get the other's attention. Ryoma immediately shut the sketchbook, hid it, and put away his pencils. All with a speed that seemed impossible to master. He looked at the stranger only to grab his things and attempt to move to a different spot.

"What is wrong brat? Here ore-sama is honoring you with his presence and you try to move to a different spot?"

Ryoma sighed and resign himself to his fate. Why did he have to meet Atobe now of all days? Especially after that strange dream he had. "What do you want, Monkey King?"

Atobe smirked. "Can we just talk, Brat?"

"With you? No." Ryoma scowled at him. "Besides, I never thought that I would see you on a train."

"What? Ore-sama was just heading to Harajuku and thought it would be faster by train, considering that the roads are sure to be crowded"

"Didn't think that would stop you, Monkey King" _Harajuku, huh? Well, crap. That means I'm going to be stuck with him. _Seriously, why did Atobe had to bother him now? Ryoma couldn't help but to think of the dream he had which caused a blush to quickly rise to his cheeks.

"Attention please, we will be at Harajuku station in ten minutes….."

"Ore-sama believes that this is his stop. Ja ne, Brat"

Ryoma smirked. He didn't say anything about it being his stop as well. All he did was gather his bags and made sure that everything was as it should be. Atobe grabbed his own things and went to the door, not noticing that Ryoma was doing to same thing.

"Oi, Monkey King, move over. I have to get off here to." Atobe looked at Ryoma in surprise before smirking.

"Oh? And what are you doing in Harajuku?"

"That's none of your business"

"Really? Then ore-sama guess that ore-sama'll just follow you"

Ryoma twitched. Yeah, that was just what he needed; a monkey king following him. "What about you? Aren't you here for something?"

"Ore-sama was just going shopping. There was this shirt ore-sama was wanting to buy…." Ryoma droned Atobe out. He could care less about what Atobe was going to buy and do. But a part of him did. The part that was crushing on the vain, whiny, annoying, hot, smart, pompous, cute, diva. "Brat? Brat!"

Ryoma was startled by the sudden 'Brat!' but didn't show it. "Yes?" he said uncaringly. Atobe let out an indignant huff, annoyed at Ryoma's lack of caring.

"Ore-sama had decided. Ore-sama will stay with you for the day" Atobe said arrogantly.

Ryoma scowled. He was both elated and annoyed at the thought of Atobe staying with him. Annoyed that any future drawing will have to be delayed but elated at the thought of being with the guy he liked. "Che"

Atobe smirked in a way that left Ryoma wary. "It'll be like a date"

Ryoma completely froze. _A date? Since when? What? _A date with the guy he finally admitted to liking? Was this heaven or hell? Ryoma's mind had gone into overdrive and he had let out a very adorable, very high-pitch, squeak. "a…a date?"

Atobe couldn't help but to laugh. "Yes, a date. Ore-sama will treat you"

Ryoma was wary. He had a natural distrust against people. "You're joking right?" He meant it to be sarcastic and a little scathing. It was just to make sure that Atobe wasn't joking. But he couldn't help but to feel bad with Atobe gave him a kicked puppy look.

"It'll just between friends, okay?"

"Since when were we friends?" Ryoma couldn't help to reply. He physically winced when he saw the look on Atobe's face. It was the kind of look that kicked puppy gives when he's forced outside on a very cold night. He let out a sigh and blushed crimson. Looking away, he said "Fine, if go on this 'date' of yours, what do you propose we do?"

The look of Atobe's face was pure and complete happiness. "First, ore-sama will treat you to dinner, and then we'll and see a movie"

Why, oh, why, wasn't Ryoma surprised that Atobe would take him on a cliché, classic date of dinner and a movie? "I have a better idea, we go shopping, you come to my house where I'll cook, and than we watch a movie." He really didn't want to go to a restaurant and theater; far too crowded for his tastes.

Atobe looked at him in shock. "You cook?"

"Yea"

"But, still, we could always go to a restaurant. Ore-sama happens to know a great French restaurant." Atobe said haughtily. Ryoma rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to go to some restaurant. Too many people and he hated people. Kevin even got him a shirt that said 'I hate people'. It even had some emo chibi on it. Kevin also got him a shirt that said 'Clueless Uke' and had some anime guy on it and another shirt that said 'My seme can kick your seme's ass.' Even now he didn't know what either meant. He hasn't worn any of the shirts in public though. He sensed much humiliation on his part if he did.

"I hate French food" Atobe looked disappointed but brighten up after a minute.

"What about an American place?"

"Why don't I just cook? Atobe sighed but resign. Ryoma knew that he would eventually get stuck going to some fancy restaurant where it was too much money and not enough food.

"Fine, ore-sama will allow to cook this time; but next time we are going to a restaurant of my choice."

"Ye…" Wait a minute. He said next time, didn't he? Next time? What next time? "Rewind. Next time?"

Atobe smirked arrogantly. "Of course, ore-sama has plans to make you his boyfriend." What! Once again, Ryoma made a squeak. A squeak that Atobe found to be very, very cute and adorable. "First, we do as you suggest. Let us go shopping!" Ryoma was going to regret this, wasn't he? This upcoming regret made him forget about the boyfriend part of what Atobe said.

And shop they did. They went to store after store after store. Ryoma ended up going to that bookstore he was going to go to originally. Atobe looked in disdain at the store. The store was a second hand book store that had all sorts of books. There were ancient scrolls written in beautiful calligraphy to books written in the Edo period to books written in the Meiji era. He could have even swore that there were scrolls and books from the Heian-era. There were Chinese scrolls, antique western books, and even books that have been written recently. He absolutely loved it. Ryoma ended up getting a few old woodblock prints and an antique, illustrated version of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Possibly from the Meiji era but he didn't know for sure)

After that Atobe dragged him to various clothing stores where he was forced into outfit after outfit after outfit. Ryoma, with major effort, got Atobe to finally decide on a silver button up shirt (with cuffs), a black vest, tight black pants, and dress shoes (Luckily he had the perfect pair of combat boots that would go great with the outfit, along with some other accessories) and this was for him. It took even longer to get Atobe to decide on an outfit for himself.

Ryoma had to go through this for several stores. It was after the fifth store that Ryoma opted for just dragging Atobe to his house while Atobe carried several boxes filled with very expensive clothes. Atobe eventually called his chauffeur to pick them up and take them to Ryoma's house. By the time this had been finished it was seven o'clock in the evening and both of them were ravenous. Ryoma somewhat regretted not taking Atobe up on the dinner but it would be too crowded especially with it being Christmas Eve. And so Ryoma cooked.

Ryoma ended up spending an hour in the kitchen making a feast fit for a king. There were shrimp, fried rice, chicken, steak, scallops, tempura, and anything else Ryoma could think of. The dessert was going to be a vanilla, strawberry, and white chocolate cake with butter cream icing. It had enough sugar to put even Eiji into a coma and it looked absolutely delicious.

Atobe, meanwhile, just stood there perplexed. He stared at Ryoma, not knowing what to do. Ryoma reminded him so much of a housewife. This made him smile. Ryoma was so cute in the frilly, white apron. But then he say all the food, all the delicious food. This was definitely better then any restaurant.

Ryoma glared at the cabinet. The plates he wanted to use was on the top shelf which was out of his reach and only by a couple of centimeters. He glanced at Atobe who happened to be several centimeters taller than him. So unfair. Why must society be so unkind to short people. Grrrr.

Thus, Ryoma dragged a chair over to the counter and climbed upon it. Using it as a makeshift staircase, he grabbed the plates and set them down onto the counter. However, as he was climbing down, the chair wobbled and made Ryoma slip. Luckily, Atobe manage to catch him before he could fall to the ground.

"Careful Brat, if you would have asked then ore-sama would have gotten the plates"

Ryoma blushed before he stuttered out, "Thanks, Monkey King"

"No problem. Ore-sama is glad to be your prince" Atobe smirked. That was when Ryoma realized the position they were in. Atobe was standing tall while the chair was on the floor and Ryoma was in his arms in bridal style.

"A…ano, the food…is um ready…." Ryoma's face had once again passed the 'red as a tomato' stage. It was actually quite cute. Somehow Ryoma got out of the Monkey King's hold and went to set the food out. By the time he was finished, the food was laid out in a way that fit the description of 'fit for a king'. It had Atobe's mouth watering. It took them no time to dig in and finish it all off.

"Thanks for the food" Atobe said. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. That was true enough for Atobe at the moment. The meal only made him love Ryoma even more then what he already did.

Ryoma didn't even spare him a glance as he cleaned up the mess. But Atobe could tell he was blushing. A "Your welcome" came out in a meek voice unfamiliar to its owner. After everything was clean, Ryoma got out everything that would be necessary to make the cake. Atobe eventually joined him.

"Ore-sama wishes to help with whatever your making."

Ryoma scoffed. "I'm making a cake and no you can't help. You'd probably ruin it"

Atobe let out an indignant huff. "Ore-sama will not!"

Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Really!"

Five minutes later….

"NO MONKEY KING!"

"What?"

"Stop!"

"Why?"

The entire kitchen was a mess. There were ingredients everywhere and I mean everywhere. How the heck Atobe got eggs on the ceiling is beyond me but he did it. The two teens were currently fighting over the mixing bowl that had at least two cups of flour in it. It was an disaster waiting to happen…..

"Gah! Baka Monkey King!"

Ryoma and Atobe were completely covered in white flour. Flour that was all over the counters and the floor. Atobe was also covered in eggs. He looked so strange covered head to toe in cake ingredients. So strange, in fact, that Ryoma began to laugh. This was no chuckle but rather a full blown laughter attack while pointing at Atobe.

Atobe, on the other hand, didn't know what to do or say. So he just settled for tackling the emerald hair teen to the floor. Now, the diva was straddling the younger teen and the milk was swirling all around them. Their faces were mere centimeters apart, their lips even closer.

Staring deep into those molten, golden eyes; Atobe let out a breathless, "Ryoma, become mine, be my boyfriend."

Ryoma's reply was an even more breathless, "Yes"

And so they kissed. It was a passionate kiss, true love's first kiss….

"Aishiiteru, Ryoma"

"A…aishi..ite..ru.., Mo…Keigo"

Atobe let a small chuckle when he saw what kind of mess they had made. "We better clean up…"

Ryoma, lazily, glared at Atobe. What a way to kill the mood. Somehow regaining his breath, the teen stood up and took a good look around them. There was only one word to describe the situation….joy. Please note the sarcasm.

Smirking slowly, Ryoma grabbed the towel. _Payback is a bitch. _Ryoma thought before throwing the towel at Atobe. "You clean, you were the one to make the mess after all"

Atobe huffed. "Excuse ore-sama but you are the host….Wait! Where are you going?"

Ryoma was already half way up stairs. The smirk was still present on his face. "I'm taking a bath. Mada mada dane, Monkey King." He ran the rest of the way up after hearing a very loud "BRAT!"

After an hour, everything and everyone was cleaned up. The kitchen was spotless and Ryoma and Atobe had scrubbed every ounce of flour, egg, and milk off of them. Ryoma was sitting on the couch, waiting for Atobe to get done in the bath. He had let Atobe borrow some of Nanjiroh's pj's while he, himself, was in a black pair of sweatpants and some random shirt he had put on. He had chosen Sweeny Todd as the movie they were to watch.

"Hey Brat, what are we watching." Atobe said as he came down stairs.

Ryoma turned around, missing Atobe surprised and flustered look. "Sweeny Todd"

"Um, Brat?"

"What Monkey King?"

"Your shirt…."

Ryoma looked down only to notice that he was wearing the 'Clueless Uke' shirt Kevin had given him. "What of it?"

Atobe shook his head. "Do you even know what that means?"

"No, Kevin gave it to me….So, what's an uke?"

Atobe grinned before pouncing on Ryoma. He pressed the 'play' button and cuddled Ryoma close to him.

"Hey! Baka Monkey King!" Ryoma yelled as he tried to get out of Atobe's hold.

"Happy Birthday, Ryoma, and Aishiiteru"

Ryoma blushed even redder than he did before and smiled softly. "Aishiiteru, Keigo"

The End!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! This was requested by AnimePhantom088.…a year and a half ago. So sad I know, but now its done. How did I do? Thanks for reading! Please review.

Side Notes:

This is going to be the prequel to Consuming Darkness which I will be working on hopefully soon. Then some of the things like the dream will make sense.

Meiji Era- 1869-1912

Edo Era- 1600-1869

Heian Era- 794-1185

"Pure Love"- In ancient Japanese society there was no concept of homosexuality or bisexuality. Pure love refers to the belief that love between (male) samurai was believed to be pure. In other words, in ancient Japan, the only thing stopping a person from loving another regardless of gender was social class and even then they'd find a way to get pass it. A yaoi fan's dream.

"Clueless Uke" and "My Seme…" comes from semeuke . Com

The computer thing comes from Honey and Clover.

Aishiiteru means 'I love you'

Sweeny Todd is an amazing movie.

Am I missing anything?


End file.
